Los Gatos glider pilot, 14, sets his sights high

Andy Jardetzky used to be afraid of heights. He also hated airplanes, particularly the falling sensation that accompanies flight through an air pocket. He wasn't a big fan of roller coasters, either.

He's gotten over all of those fears—and then some. It's a good thing, because heights, hurtling earthward and roller coaster-like rides will likely all be a part of his future.

Andy is a glider-pilot. And at the age of 14, he already has a number of solo flights to his name.

Just recently finishing up his freshman year at Los Gatos High School, Andy has had a love affair with planes since the seventh grade. Back then he had a teacher at Fisher Middle School who helped his fancy take flight—literally.

"Mr. [Steve] Hum taught us rocketry, and we built rockets and catapults, which got me to thinking about mechanics and building stuff," Andy says. "He was really inspiring."

At about the same time, Andy's uncle began taking lessons to fly helicopters. When Andy tagged along on a trip to the Hiller Aviation Museum at San Carlos Airport, he was transfixed. "It was so cool," Andy recalls. "Once a month they have the Young Eagles program there, where pilots volunteer to give kids rides in airplanes. I got a really nice pilot who let me fly the plane. Afterward it was like,`I have to do this.'"

"We just thought it was fun that Andy was going with Uncle Paul to the airport to see him fly," laughs Alex Jardetzky, Andy's father. "Then we got a call from my brother, saying`Andy's up in a plane.'"

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Andy began asking—make that begging—his parents to let him take flying lessons. "At first," Alex Jardetzky says, "we didn't take it very seriously and postponed the lessons as long as possible, figuring it was the musings of a young kid. But then one day he said he wanted to get to the airport early so he could take part in Young Eagles again, and nagged us to tell him who was going to drive him down. We realized he really was serious."

The Jardetzky family discovered that although Andy would have to wait until he was 16 to take powered flight lessons, he could learn to fly gliders at 14. The choice was obvious, Andy says. "In powered planes I couldn't fly or solo for two more years. Also, hours in a glider count toward getting my license to fly powered planes."

Since Andy began gliding in Hollister last year, he's had several lessons calling for the type of clear head and quick thinking not normally associated with an adolescent. During his very first session, Andy's instructor handed over the controls to the young student. "The guy was really talkative and outgoing, and on the runway he said,`You're in command now,'" Andy recalls. "The pilot in command is essentially responsible for anything that happens to the craft in flight. The instructor will help out if anything happens. But from takeoff to landing, I was flying the craft. It wasn't easy; actually it was pretty nerve-wracking."

Recently Andy learned how to handle a glider in the event that its towrope breaks free from the plane that chauffeurs the craft to gliding level. The situation demanded a calm demeanor and a rapid response under pressure. Says Andy, "Even though my instructor told me when he was going to do it, there was still this big`ca-THUNK' when he pulled the rope. And you have to have fast reflexes; if you lose speed too quickly, you won't get back to the airport. That was probably the scariest thing I'd done in a while."

The opportunity to confront—and vanquish—his fears has been a big part of the attraction of flying for Andy. "I hated roller coasters as a little kid, and that feeling of falling in a plane would make me really tense. I just said,`Well, I have to get over all of that,' and I did. After flying, being on a roller coaster is a piece of cake."

Still, Andy admits that his mind can't always control what his stomach wants to do. During a lesson in aerobatics—staged on a day when the morning "thermals" offered optimum lift and bounce— Andy went green (and it had nothing to do with being environmentally friendly). "Normally I never get sick, even when we're thermaling," Andy says, "but doing aerobatics was completely different; we were upside down, doing loops and all kinds of stuff. After about 15 minutes I had to stop because I was really queasy. We were pulling way more Gs than I expected. And on a roller coaster you're doing nice, tight loops. When I did them, they were not perfect."

Andy proudly reports that he held onto his lunch during the lesson, and has done so to this day. He has become an avid pilot in training, immersing himself in the mountain of instructional materials necessary to earn his license, as well as books and reference materials about all manner of historic aircraft. He can rattle off model numbers and descriptions like a seasoned pro and eagerly anticipates the annual Red Bull Air Race in San Diego, where his favorites are on display. Surprisingly, should a military career ever be in Andy's future, the Air Force would not be his first choice.

"I'd join the Navy; they have better planes," he says firmly. "The Air Force flies F-16s and other boring planes that need long runways. But the Navy gets F-18s, and aircraft that can do vertical takeoffs and experimental stuff."

This summer Andy hopes to turn his passion into a moneymaking proposition—or at least to offset some of the considerable costs his parents have been covering for his lessons. If a position becomes available at the airport where Andy is learning to fly, he will "work the line," or help prepare gliders for flight, respond to tow requests and do other odd jobs around the hangar.

"Once he's an employee they'll give him discounts on his lessons," his father says. "Our daughter did that when she learning to ride horses; the kids don't make much, but they develop a good work ethic."

If Andy "lands" one of the coveted slots, there will still be a hurdle or two to overcome: Not only will he require a special work permit due to his age, but his parents will have to make the daily trek to Hollister to deliver him to the job. "Right now we're just trying to enable our kids to follow their passions," says the elder Jardetzky. "We think it's cool that Andy's developed such an interest for something at this age, and that he's sticking with it. He seems to have been pretty consistent for a number of years now."

While Andy's mom, Adrianne Jardetzky, is proud of her son's commitment to flying, she does own up to some moments of motherly concern each time he takes the controls of a plane. Standing on the ground and watching during his lessons is alarming at times, she says.

"I'm mostly comfortable with it, because they take a lot of steps to ensure the student's safety," she reports. "What makes me nervous is when he's doing aerobatics: Before they do that, they put on parachutes. I asked him once what he would do if something bad happened. He said`I'd bail, bail, bail. ... These are the steps I have to go through to get my butt out of the plane.'"

Though Alex Jardetzky shares the same concerns for his son's safety, he takes a longer view of Andy's hobby. "Andy has a sense of what his limits are, and won't go beyond them before it's time. I'm proud of what he's accomplished, and that he's pursued it with such consistency. We don't have to tell him to study; he knows what he has to do to get his license and he definitely buckles down when he has to.

"There's one thing I view as a positive about flying," Alex Jardetzky concludes. "You have to have a good sense of responsibility because your safety's in your own hands. It's a weird thing to say, but flying is the thing that will keep Andy grounded."